Platinum Group Metals Recycling Ltd and its only director, Edvars Stancik, have been found guilty of illegally trading in catalytic convertors in Lincolnshire.
Stancik, formerly of St Thomas Court, Long Sutton, failed to attend a trial at Lincoln Crown Court on his own behalf or that of his company.
The court heard that, between December 2019 and September 2021, Edvars Stancik, 30, acted as a director of Platinum Group Metals Recycling Ltd. It was through this company that he traded catalytic converters on a colossal scale.
Catalytic converters are components in car exhausts. They contain small amounts of precious metals contained within a metal case making them valuable. However, catalytic converters also contain carcinogenic fibres which, if ingested, can cause serious and irreversible lung disease.
The dangerous fibres can attach to shoes and clothing and be transported from one place to another. It is, therefore, extremely important that catalytic converters are handled only under the strict conditions of an environmental permit supervised by the Environment Agency.
A jury heard that neither Stancik nor his company had obtained an environmental permit before buying and selling thousands of catalytic converters. Stancik stored the containers at his home address and at containers in Lime Walk, Long Sutton. The devices were stored in an irresponsible manner giving rise to an unacceptable risk to human health.
Prosecuting for the Environment Agency, barrister, Barnaby Hone told the court that the agency had been investigating Stancik and Platinum Group Metals Recycling Ltd. The investigation found that Stancik and his company had been buying large quantities of catalytic converters and had sold at least 71 tonnes of them for recycling. Further investigations revealed that the business had turned over millions of pounds.
A warrant was executed at the 2 Long Sutton addresses where Environment Agency officers, working with Lincolnshire Police, found a large number of catalytic converters. Many of these devices were damaged, exposing their dangerous innards.
It took the jury less than half an hour to reach unanimous guilty verdicts.
The case has now been adjourned for consideration of the confiscation of the proceeds of crime and the recovery of the Environment Agency’s costs.
Edvars Stancik and Platinum Group Metals Recycling Ltd will be sentenced at a later date. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Edvars Stancik.
Paul Salter, Senior Environmental Crime Officer for the Environment Agency, said:
“Edvars Stancik and Platinum Group Metals Recycling Ltd crimes were not just illegal, but dangerous.
Not only do we use environmental law to prosecute those who abuse the environment, but we also use the Proceeds of Crime legislation to ensure that criminals are deprived of the benefits of their illegal activity.
We continue to use intelligence-led approaches to target the most serious crimes and evaluate which interventions are most effective. We thank Lincolnshire Police who assisted us with this investigation.
We support legitimate businesses, and we are proactively supporting them by disrupting and stopping the criminal element backed up by the threat of tough enforcement as in this case.”
Members of the public who see or suspect waste crime is being committed should report it immediately to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Source www.gov.uk
